Oh wow, The Vaselines have recorded their first album together in 20 years, Sex With An X, due September 14 on Sub Pop. In exchange for an email address, you can download a 320kbps MP3 of “I Hate the 80’s,” a poppy little jam that turns recent revisionism on its head: “What do you know? You weren’t there. It wasn’t all Duran Duran Duran Duran. You want the truth? Well this is it: I hate the 80s because the 80s were shit.”
Sure, that’s simplistic and we all know there was as much great music recorded and released in the 80s as in any other decade, but it’s easy to forget how much dong the mainstream actually huffed in that decade. Of course there was good stuff, too, but there was definitely more than its fair share of absolute shit. Way more.
And here’s an old MP3: The Vaselines – “Son of a Gun” from Enter the Vaselines.
It must be really easy to dis mainstream targets like the Durannies when your miniscule, amateurish output is championed by the likes of Kurt Cobain.
As for the ’80s, I was there and yeah there was plenty of crap for sure, but there was an even bigger truckload of shit during this past decade.
I took that line to mean that it wasn’t all as GOOD as Duran Duran.
Maybe you’re right, Jake. I’m just not used to Duran Duran being portrayed in a positive light.
By the same token, though; it’s easy to diss all 80s music (except Duran Duran) when your miniscule, amateurish output is championed by Kurt Cobain.
I really enjoyed this track because a.) it sounded good, b.) I WAS there, and c.) the 80s WERE shit to me.
For me, by far, the absolute worst decade in the last sixty years. Had me thinking that maybe I didn’t really like music.
The retro-faux-nostalgia for the 80s going around the last few years makes me want to puke.
Thanks for the link!
Wait, what’s wrong with Duran Duran again?
I’m digging that new track alot. And I have to concur that the 80s sucked ass. Big time. No internet. No social media. 3 TV networks and half a dozen cable channels. Virtually ALL radio stations sucked. I had to drive 150 miles to chicago just to buy Dr. Martins. Got fired from a job for having a pierced ear. I think that we look back on certain things with fondness, like 12″ vinyl and indie singles. But the truth is that even in a city of 250,000 people anybody out of the top 40 mainstream was isolated and shunned. “Alternative” music was very hard to aquire. It was very difficult to communicate and network with people who shared your interests. And as much as people want to remember the 80s as a time when MTV played The Cure and Depeche Mode 24/7 I’m here to tell you that MTV SUCKED back then even more than it sucks now that it doesn’t play music. MTV only played “alternative” music in the middle of the night one night per week for 2 hours. Don’t even get me started on Reagan, Thatcher and what havoc conservatives visited on this pathetic planet.
Ugh. Fuck the 80s!
Not to say that there was NO good music on the Top 40 radio in the 80s, of course. I’m looking at some “biggest hits of the year” charts and I’m seeing a lot of Blondie, Michael Jackson, Kenny Rogers, Hall & Oates, John Cougar, Cars, Men At Work, Police, Eurythmics, David Bowie, Prince, Pretenders, Human League, Paul McCartney, Duran Duran (obvs), Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Wham, Tears For Fears, Huey Lewis, Pet Shop Boys, Bangles, Crowded House, U2, INXS, Guns N’ Roses, Tone Loc…
1986-1989 was definitely the nadir though.
Huey Lewis?
Tone Loc?
Cracker, please!
I’m not an ’80s apologist–especially when it comes to the dreadful political landscape of the time–but in terms of popular music I’ll take that decade over the 2000s a dozen times over. The 2000s were such a grand musical disappointment that I’ve put the current decade on notice.
“The retro-faux-nostalgia for the 80s going around the last few years“–as GMinNJ states–is indeed lame; but one could argue it seeks to celebrate what was stereotypically crappy about the time. It’s not like they’re reminiscing about The Church’s Starfish or PiL’s “generic” album; more like Bananarama, Human League or whatever.
Btw Jake, the two albums I mention above were released btwn ’86-’89; so were Appetite for Destruction, Daydream Nation, Disintegration, Doolittle, David Sylvian’s Gone to Earth, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, The Land of Rape and Honey, Mother’s Milk, It Takes a Nation of Millions…, Nothing’s Shocking, Paul’s Boutique, Pleased to Meet Me, The Queen is Dead, Sign o’ the Times, Skylarking, Surfer Rosa, Vivid, and the first Stone Roses album, just to name a few. If that was during the nadir, well, then…
I meant the nadir of top 40 music, specifically.
I was born in 93, but still the 80’s seemed really Dodge and shite!!!
Fu** the 80’s!